Travel Butlers African Safari Blog.

Book 3 nights at Lion Sands River Lodge in the Sabi Sand Reserve and receive 2 nights FREE in Cape Town, either in a Standard Room at the Cape Cadogan, or a Luxury Apartment at More Quarters Apartments !

Both the properties in Cape Town are conveniently located just off fashionable Kloof Street, with some of Cape Towns’ finest restaurants just a leisurely stroll away.

Valid for travel between 1 April 2010 and 30 September 2010 (excluding travel over the World Cup period, between 1st June 2010 and 18th July 2010) AND between 1 December 2010 and 31 January 2011 (excluding travel over the Christmas and New Year period between 20th December 2010 and 7th January 2011). This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Bateleur Charters have just announced that they are offering a brand new service for safari goers to the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. This new service will be launched on 1st May.

They will fly daily from the Johannesburg O.R. Tambo to the Sabi Sands Reserve, departing Johannesburg at about 11.15 am and landing in Sabi about 75 minutes later. Return flights depart Sabi Sands at about 1 pm.

Guests arriving at Johannesburg O.R Tambo will need to make their way to the Bateleur Air Charter Kiosk in the International Terminal building, where they will be met by a staff member and taken to the Bateleur Air Charter private VIP lounge, which serves tea, coffee and other refreshments. There is also a free luggage storage service here, so that guests can store any excess luggage to be collected upon their return.

There is a fantastic opening special rate of just R3,200 return or R1,600 one way fully inclusive of ALL airport taxes and VAT for the month of May 2010 only. From 08 June 2010 the rate increases to R4,500 return or R2,250 one way, again fully inclusive of ALL airport taxes and VAT. This rate will be applicable for the remainder of 2010 subject to possible slight fuel increases.

Savanna tented lodge in the Sabi Sands has always been a favourite of ours here at Travel Butlers - in fact it was the first place that Tracey & I ever went on safari all those years ago!  You should have seen her face when I said we were staying in a tent….and then again when she saw this was a tent like no other she had ever seen!

Anyway, the good news from Paddy and the team at Savanna is that they are running a special offer from 1st December to the end of March (excluding 10 days around Christmas) where guests can  Stay 4 nights for the price of 3 at Savanna.

This is a great opportunity to experience a fantastic safari in the world-famous Sabi Sands Game Reserve, and we are sure this offer will prove to be very popular.

Fpr guests recently staying at the Inyati Private Game Reserve, in the Sabi Sands Reserve which forms part of the Greater Kruger Park, they have been treated to some wonderful elephant sightings.

The lodge itself is situated right on the banks of the Sand River, and their particular stretch of the river has become a firm favourite with the eles, providing guests with some awesome game viewing from the lodge deck !

In particular, the elephants seem to congregate together for a midday drink, so what better background for lunch than a herd of elephants - although guests do have to be careful that they remember to eat their delicious lunches inbetween snapping photographs !

As well as the elephants, leopards have visited the lodge too - and one even wandered through camp during dinner one night !

But lets not forget the ’smaller’ sightings in and around the lodge that have also generated a lot of excitement - such as a small spotted genet, a white tailed mongoose with a black tail, a serval and her cub, and even a Cape clawless otter.

Generally, otters are very rarely seen, but it is thought that the low water level in the Sand River had encouraged this particular otter out of the thick reeds in search of food.

Guests at Singita in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve have been priviledges to witness some great lion sightings recently, including battles with large herds of buffalo.

One pride of lions surpassed themselves on one hunt, and took down 6 buffalo in one go - enough to feed on for quite a few days !

We hope that guests weren’t too ’squeamish’ about the additional fact that August was a record month for ‘kills’ - nearly 30 in as many days, including the buffalo and wildebeest.

For some, seeing this may NOT be the highlight of their safari game drives … but it is just nature !

Guests at Sabi Sabi will often look back with fond memories, not only of their safari experience, but also they will remember the stories and African folklore often shared with them by the friendly Shangaan lodge staff and the regular dancers who entertain guests after evening meals.

Most of these staff members come from the rural villages of Huntington, Lillydale and Justicia, which are to the south of the main Sabi Sands Reserve.

Sabi Sabi have been instrumental for nearly 30 years now in not only supporting these communities by employing local people, but they have also created a community programme around education, health, sport and culture.

Following on from many guests enquiring as to whether they too can help to support this programme, Sabi Sabi have been in communication with the village elders, and have now set up tours to these communities, so that guests can experience first-hand the rich heritage of the local people. Locals will welcome guests into their daily lives, so that they can have an authentic view on Shangaan life. Visits include the Mazinyane Pre-School and a local sangoma (herbalist)

The tours are led by Sabi Sabi Liaison Officer Lodrick Manyathele, who regales guests en-route to and from the villages with stories of local customs and traditions, and the tours depart inbetween game drives. The tours cost R290 per person, and all proceeds go directly back into the community.

Sightings of spotted hyena are quite rare due to their low numbers, therefore any sighting of these magnificent animals is a special one - but recently guests at Lion Sands River Lodge and Lion Sands Ivory Lodge, in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, were treated to the most incredible sighting !

One of the rangers had located a den site about a month ago after following an adult female hyena traveling down one of the roads at a rapid pace. She followed the road for a while, then moved into the vegetation.

There the ranger found an incredible den site under a large rock, and there were 3 cubs at the site - 2 cubs of approximately 2 months of age and one cub was younger than a month.

Guests at the lodge have had several awesome sightings of these cubs playing around the den site but last week everyone noticed that there were now 5 cubs - 2 tiny cubs have now joined the clan and can be seen peering out of the dens site, still a little nervous to venture out …

These are highly social animals, living in clans whose size is related to the food supply available. The stable core of the clan is females and as a result males disperse.

There are separate dominance hierarchies among males and females and females dominate all males. High-ranking females have priority of access to food and to resting sites near the den entrance and as a result they rear more cubs than low-rankers.

All the females in the clan breed and their cubs den together but each female suckles only her own young.

Hopefully in future there will be several more exciting encounters with the growing cubs …

A particular female leopard in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve has become a regular sighting for guests at Lion Sands on game drives over the last couple of months. On most occasions when the she has been sighted they have seen her moving in and around the dry riverbeds and the thicket vegetation surrounding the riverbeds. She had been in the same area for about 3 weeks now and this lead the rangers to believe that she might have cubs in the area …

On Saturday morning one of the rangers located both the female leopard and her cubs sunbathing on an old dead tree stump in the area that she had been frequenting!!

This litter includes 2 cubs which are approximately 2 months old as their coats appear to be smoky gray as the rosettes are not yet clearly defined. This was an incredible sighting for the guests!

Female leopards are capable of breeding at 2 years and will produce litters of one to 3 cubs after a pregnancy lasting about 3 and a half months. Leopard cubs weigh around 500g at birth and their eyes open after about a week. For the first 2 months the mother keeps her cubs hidden in dense bush, rock clefts or hollow tree trunks to minimize detection from predators.

The cubs will venture from hiding after about 6 to 8 weeks by which time they are rather successful tree climbers.

Mothers leave the young cubs for periods of up to 36 hours while hunting and feeding before returning to suckle them. She brings solid food to her cubs when they’re about 6 weeks old and the cubs are weaned at about 3 months but stay with their mother for the first 22 months. Less than half of the cubs from a litter will on average survive to adulthood.

Travel + Leisure Magazine USA has just completed its 2009 Worlds Best Service Awards, asking its readers to nominate destinations around the globe that “really deliver”.

The results were published in the magazine’s June edition, and Sabi Sabi is honoured to have been voted as 7th best hotel overall in the world, the only South African establishment in the World’s Top Ten category. Sabi Sabi’s Earth Lodge has also made the 2009 Conde Nast Traveller Gold List for Best in Ambience and Design.

In its 30 years of existence, Sabi Sabi has become renowned for succesfully balancing luxury and world class safaris, with genuine African warmth and hospitality - inviting guests to enjoy a personalised home in the bush experience. The caring management and staff play an integral part in the overall Sabi Sabi experience, offering superb service that complements the 5-Star accommodation, exciting Big 5 open Land Rover safaris and superb cuisine.

Marketing director, Jacques Smit attributes this international recognition to several factors: “People form the heart of our business. The majority of our team hail from nearby villages and they have an inherent connection with the reserve. They bring a special brand of African hospitality to our lodges that make guests feel instantly at home”.

Ask Sabi Sabi’s returning guests why they come back again and again, and the answer will be, “for the unforgettable experience made all the more memorable by the warmth and hospitality of the staff.” How true !

Londolozi Private Game Reserve, situated in the exclusive Sabi Sand Game Reserve which adjoins the Kruger National Park, has a series of exciting guest activities lined up for the winter months at no extra cost.

These include breakfasts and bushveld picnics – including whisky porridge at dawn; winter wine tasting and campfire story telling; leopard tracking; astrology and geology lectures; yoga massage and all-night bush sleep-outs.